Manchester United 4-0 Aston Villa: 5 Tactical Observations

Manchester United have just comprehensively slaughtered a beleaguered Aston Villa 4-0 at Old Trafford.

It leaves United atop the table and local rivals Manchester City five points behind them.

Although the title race could still be on with the Red Devils visiting the Etihad Stadium soon, Sir Alex Ferguson just made it clear there will be no further slip-ups.

Meanwhile, Alex McLeish's Villa are still toiling at the wrong end of the table, and a four-goal defeat does them absolutely no good.

Read on to find some tactical observations from the game!

Rafael Leaves United Wide Open at the Back

The first thing of note during Manchester United's comprehensive victory was the gaps they leave when attacking.

Although Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick shield the two central defenders whilst the wide players bomb forward, the pockets of space Patrice Evra and Rafael leave are alarming.

At times, Rafael was even joining the queue of forwards on the edge of Aston Villa's penalty box, leaving a gaping hole on his flank.

Such was Manchester United's confidence and ruthlessness, however, that it didn't matter. Even when Villa got the ball, they couldn't exploit it.

United's Technically Superior Midfield Bossed the Game

It's alarming how tidy Manchester United were today.

They must have picked up a lot in their lessons against Barcelona over the last few years as the combination of Scholes and Carrick is one of the safest in the league.

In fact, the entire team looked like they had one of their most comfortable afternoons ever—despite Aston Villa's best efforts to press and harry.

Embarrassingly for Alex McLeish, the most confident player on his team was Samir Carruthers—a teenager who got a novelty 15 minutes of Premier League experience under his belt.

Jonny Evans Is the Natural Heir to Rio Ferdinand

He's had a bit of a whirlwind season, but he's finally being recognised for his efforts.

Jonny Evans looks like the player every Manchester United fan hoped he would be and, when Nemanja Vidic returns from his long-term injury, he will get even better.

They will form one of the best central defensive pairings in the league next season, and Evans looks so assured on the ball you could liken him to Rio Ferdinand.

He's quick, dominant and tidy in possession. An excellent player overall.

Villa's Midfielders Aren't in the Right Positions

Aston Villa got absolutely no joy out of this game, and it was down to several fundamental reasons.

One of the major faults with the team was the midfield today. They failed to control the game, failed to exert any influence over the pace of the proceedings and continually found themselves out of position.

Perhaps most critical was the lack of a Scholes-type midfielder for Villa. When they crossed the ball and it was cleared, no one was there to mop it up—except Wayne Rooney, who launched a counter-attack.

When they needed to hold onto the ball and pick the right pass, no one had the confidence or footballing brain to display some patience. Instead, Villa frequently gifted the ball to their opposition on the edge of the penalty box, making life incredibly difficult for themselves.

Villa's Shape Was All Wrong

The shape was not good today.

Aston Villa completely ignored the left side of the pitch when building up due to the right-footed Eric Lichaj's deployment as a left-back.

Villa focused solely on the right side, and at times it wasn't clear who the "anchor" midfielder was out of the three central players.

It also wasn't clear who was playing up front for most of the game, as Andreas Weimann was frequently found on the right touchline, while Gabriel Agbonlahor was found on the left.

It wasn't until Emile Heskey was forced on due to Ciaran Clark's injury that we saw a genuine shape from Alex McLeish's men.

Closing Thoughts

It was a penalty in my opinion, but I've never seen anyone so willing to cut the outrageous mid-air shapes Ashley Young does.

He was a cheater at Aston Villa, and he's still a cheater now, but he was far better at Villa. Only half as many people noticed his antics in a claret and blue shirt.

It's not all doom and gloom for Villa either—provided they can stave off the threat of relegation this season.

They've got some great young players, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of Samir Carruthers. That guy knows how to play in midfield and he's a real spring chicken.

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